IMF confirms faith in Lagarde after police raid

The IMF said Thursday said it remains confident in Managing Director Christine Lagarde despite a French probe into her handling of a high-profile scandal when she was a government minister.

"It would not be appropriate to comment on a case that has been and that is currently before the French judiciary," International Monetary Fund spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in a briefing.

However, he added, "the executive board has been briefed on this matter, including recently, and continues to express its confidence in the managing director's ability to effectively carry out her duties."

On March 20, French police raided Lagarde's Paris home in connection with the investigation into her decision in 2007, when she was minister in charge of the economy, to ask an arbitration panel to rule on a dispute between disgraced tycoon Bernard Tapie and the collapsed bank Credit Lyonnais.

The arbitration resulted in Tapie being awarded around 400 million euros ($510 million).

That outcome triggered outrage among critics who insisted the state should never have taken the risk of being forced to pay money to Tapie, a convicted criminal.

Investigators probing missing flight MH370 collected more debris on an Indian Ocean island on Sunday as Malaysia urged authorities in the region to be on alert for wreckage washing up on their shores.
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Calais migrants

French gendarmes stand facing a group of seated migrants as they block their way in the Eurotunnel site in Coquelles near Calais. Photo: Philippe Huguen/AFP

French police said on Saturday some 300 migrants in Calais attempted to reach Britain via the cross-Channel tunnel overnight, a significant drop from previous nights as the security presence is beefed up.
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A piece of Boeing 777 wreckage that washed up on an Indian Ocean island arrived for analysis in France early Saturday, after Malaysian authorities said the part was almost certainly recovered from missing flight MH370.
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France's top court on Friday upheld a ban on new cockfighting pits, as the country seeks to stamp out the ancient bloodsport that continues in some regions despite being banned in most parts of the world.
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